Hoffa’s remarks are the toast of a bone-dry post-Labor Day news cycle, so Carney had to expect questions about it. The briefing was pushed back an hour-and-a-half, time likely spent fine-tuning for an already important messaging day.

The first reporter to ask about Hoffa’s remarks was ABC’s Jake Tapper, who pressed Carney on the President’s January call for civility, and in a heated exchange, tried to get Carney to set a standard for surrogate quote-ownership for the 2012 campaign.